MONTREAL — Seven of the 10 Bloc Quebecois MPs quit Wednesday because of Martine Ouellet’s leadership style, leaving the once-powerful party in complete disarray and with the embattled leader refusing to step down.

“I am staying on as leader,” Ouellet defiantly told reporters after news broke she was losing 70% of her caucus.

The seven, who will sit as Independents, made the announcement after a Bloc caucus meeting in Ottawa.

One of them is Louis Plamondon, who has been in the Commons since 1984, including the last 25 years as a Bloc MP.

He said he is “leaving the leader” but “is not leaving the Bloc Quebecois.”

Bloc Quebecois MP Louis Plamondon speaks to reporters after Question Period in the foyer of the House of Commons, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, October 27, 2011. (John Major/Postmedia Network)

The exodus is a crushing blow to a party that formed the official Opposition under Lucien Bouchard in 1993.

Gilles Duceppe then took over the reins of the Bloc and led it in five consecutive elections in which it won at least half of the seats in Quebec.

Duceppe, in an interview with The Canadian Press, said Ouellet has to go.

“She can’t stay,” he said. “When 70% of your caucus has no confidence in you, it’s a major problem.”

Ouellet, an engineer who worked at Quebec’s hydro utility before entering politics, was first elected with the provincial Parti Quebecois in 2010.

She was re-elected twice and remains a member of the provincial legislature as an Independent.

Duceppe said Ouellet’s style was never appreciated, be it within the Bloc, the PQ or the Quebec Natural Resources Department she headed between 2012 and 2014.

“Everywhere where she went it was like that,” said Duceppe, adding he never worked with her directly.

“I haven’t seen, among people I talk to, and I speak to people on the left and the right, I haven’t seen anyone particularly happy with her leadership style.”

Aside from Plamondon, the six others who left the caucus Wednesday are Luc Theriault, Gabriel Ste-Marie, Rheal Fortin, Michel Boudrias, Simon Marcil and Monique Pauze.

“We were faced with two options: either Madame Ouellet stepped down, or we walked,” Theriault said.

Ouellet, who has been leader since last March, spoke to reporters later and said she addressed her personality during Wednesday’s caucus meeting.

She said she opened the door to what she called “mediation” but that she was rebuffed.

“Unfortunately, there wasn’t really any discussion or questions,” she said. “They left the room pretty quickly.

In this file photo, former Quebec Natural Resources Minister and current Bloc Quebecois leader Martine Ouellet responds to reporters questions on Thursday, December 5, 2013 at the legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

“I am really disappointed because we have a responsibility that goes beyond our individual selves. We have a responsibility to the Bloc Quebecois and its 20,000 members and we have a responsibility to Quebec independence.

“The door is open (for the seven to return) and it will always be open. I am staying on as leader. I was elected by the members of the Bloc Quebecois and they’re the people who gave me the mandate.”

Duceppe said the Bloc, despite its current problems, remains an important part of federal politics.

“The Bloc is absolutely still necessary,” he said, likening it to the Scottish National Party, which promotes Scottish independence.

“There is an old lesson from the Americans,” Duceppe continued. “No taxation without representation. All the different opinions in the country should be represented in the democratic assembly.”